Margo Mayer Piano Studio

Why Music?

I often hear from parents about your frustration in having to constantly remind your children to practice. As my Mom says, here you are trying to steer these young lives into beneficial directions, but they all have their own motors! So it’s easy to begin to question if it’s all worth it. Well, here are some things to consider.

Diligent practice of music will make your children prosperous…successful in life. To support this idea, think for a moment about the requirements of successful music practice. To be successful you must:

1. Be willing to work hard.

2. Be faithful on a consistent basis, even when you don’t feel like it.

3. Pay attention to details-not skipping over things.

4. Have the ability to work on your own and not rely on others.

5. Use your creativity to solve problems(i.e. tricky fingering and new interpretations)

6. Be persevering-able to follow through to the end(not giving up when the going gets tough)

Now compare this list of attributes with what managers in the working world will be seeking in their future employees. As you can see, musical skills are transferable to other pursuits. People who exercise these skills in the work place are the ones who get the promotions, get paid better and receive more recognition. In short, they rise to the top in every field.

But you don’t have to take my word for it. Studies show that music students generally score significantly higher on SATs than non-music students. And here’s an interesting statistic: A Rockefeller Foundation study showed that music students had the highest rate of acceptance to medical school(66%), the highest percentage of any group. Higher even than biochemistry majors(44%).

Finally I’d like to share some passages from a letter I received from a past student 10 years after he left to go to Harvard. Brett is now a producer and developer of classical music and opera in New York and Italy, and has produced events at Carnegie Hall. Here is what he says:

” I learned many lessons besides music at the keyboard-ones that have stayed with me to this day. Patience, determination, power in systems and organization and the importance of expressing oneself fully and freely-to name just a few. Throughout college, music brought me great peace and joy in moments otherwise full of great turmoil! It helped me connect deeply with friends, and in moments of stress or confusion to connect with myself.”

Notice it took him several years to absorb and understand the deeper benefits of his music studies. So don’t be discouraged if your Junior High- aged child isn’t getting it yet! Hang in there-and, yes, they’ll appreciate that you did! All best wishes, Margo